Tills ring across sports-mad Wollongong

The atmosphere and attendance at WIN stadium were impressive. Picture: ROBERT PEET

A bumper weekend of sporting events has left fans spoiled for choice after the city played host to major games across three codes.

The triple-header kicked off at WIN Stadium on Friday night with the top-of-the-table NRL clash between the Dragons and Broncos, which saw the home side go down 36-20.

The Wollongong Hawks suffered a similar fate at the hands of the Perth Wildcats on Sunday afternoon, going down 80-61 in front of a crowd of 2700 at the WEC, in their final game.

In what proved to be a busy weekend for Wollongong's sporting precinct and surrounding businesses, the South Coast Wolves took on Sydney Olympic at WIN Stadium on Sunday evening, in round three of football's NSW Premier League.

The fans turn out to watch the Dragons’ Wollongong homecoming on Friday night.

The Illawarra Cutters also hosted Newtown in a NSW Cup rugby league game on Saturday.

Grounds staff at WIN Stadium worked hard to accommodate the various sporting events during the weekend.

WEC marketing manager Marc Swan expected the efforts to pay off, noting big sporting weekends usually benefit the city as a whole.

"Events here always bring some economic benefit to town [to] restaurants and cafes, bars and pubs," he said.

"There are some people who stay in hotels, do some other activities while they're in town and make a weekend of it ... so hopefully there's a good economic flow-on to everyone in our neck of the woods."

Chicko’s Chickens had a boost in trade after Wollongong played host to three sporting events at the weekend. Picture: ANDY ZAKELI

Chicko's Chickens manager Bradd Grimson expected around a 10 per cent boost in trade over the weekend, despite some of their regulars being scared off.

"It's fantastic when we have a bit of sunshine and the sporting events here, provided the roads are kept open," he said.

"When the streets are shut off - like with the Dragons and Broncos game - it can hurt us in the sense our regulars tend to avoid it."